Packet Switching

Packet switching was an answer to a practical problem: how do you share a network among many users without giving each one a dedicated circuit? The answer was to divide messages into small packets, send them independently, and let the receiving end put them back together. If one path failed, packets could take another route.

The approach required new kinds of hardware and new protocols, but it also changed the economics of networking. Shared links could carry more traffic, and the network could grow without a central controller. The internet inherited this design, along with its strengths and its complications.